


It's like 1, 2, 3 just as easy as can be

by littlecountrymouse



Category: Animal Kingdom (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, slight hurt/comfort moments, two idiots in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-07-15 10:22:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16061111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlecountrymouse/pseuds/littlecountrymouse
Summary: "That gets Deran’s eyes on him, brows furrowed and mouth tight with confusion. “That’s all you want? Me to say I’m sorry?”Adrian nods. “Yeah.” It’s a novel concept for them, words instead of actions, but they’ve done so much new stuff this time around. Talking seems like something else they can add to the list."Pretty much what it says on the tin, folks - this is the one where Deran first apologizes for his behavior in Season 1.





	It's like 1, 2, 3 just as easy as can be

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys!  
> So this has been sitting in my uncompleted works folder for over a month, after I stupidly lost half of it when my PC crashed. I finally got the inspiration to finish it after rewatching s3ep2 again, lost another 4 paragraphs, ugh, then finally got poked at enough by Iresposts and allthehearteyes that I actually completed it.  
> Hope you all like it!  
> Come hit me up at dixiethumbelina.tumblr.com if you want to chat about these two, given that I'm currently obsessed.

Adrian is glad he came back, even though walking into the bar a couple of months ago, he hadn’t expected to see Deran. Even if he had known before who owned the bar, he certainly wouldn’t have seen himself back _here_ , naked and coming down from the high Deran always gave him in bed. 

This time it’s on the couch in the bar Deran owns, the place he’s made for himself, and that just seemed to make it all even more mind-blowing.

Not that he expected anything less, but the sex is just as incredible as always. Maybe even a little better. He didn’t know that was possible, but maybe it’s the way Deran didn’t smother every sound he made, or how there was no anger in how he held Adrian down and fucked him senseless. Even now that they’re finished, there’s just want and need and something that feels a lot like the love Adrian had felt back in Belize.

Whatever it is, Adrian can hardly make his brain work enough to _breathe_ , let alone think beyond wiping himself down with the shirt Deran snags and throws his way.

For once, he’s the first one to use it, too, Deran not in such a rush to get the evidence off of himself that the afterglow is drowned out by his panic. 

With Deran flopped beside him smiling shyly, a hand on his thigh and not a stitch on him, it’s hard to remember the man that acted like that at all, but sometimes there’s something there that will remind him, and Adrian isn’t sure what to do about it.

He thinks Deran regrets what he did, that he’s changed enough to see that the path he took was seriously fucking wrong, but it’s still a hard thing to forget, being beaten up in a public bathroom because the guy you love freaked out about his nephew catching him getting a blowjob.

“Hey. Where’d you go?”

Adrian blinks, tries to forget about it. It’s water under the bridge, really, but it’s hard to let it go when Deran’s hand comes across his face - he knows it’s just him trying to get Adrian’s attention, that there’s no cruelty in it, but he can’t help flinching away. “Sorry, I zoned out.”

“Yeah?” Deran looks extremely dubious, and Adrian leans over to kiss him, just to get that look off his face. 

“Yeah.” 

Deran hums. “Really? Because I’d swear you thought I was gonna hit you.” 

Huh. That’s another first - Deran has always been happy to let Adrian ignore it when he’s done something wrong, willing to avoid the fallout at all costs. Adrian thinks that might be due a good reward at some point, but for now he gets hold of Deran’s hand and squeezes gently.

“Yeah, I did. For a second.”

The heartbreak on Deran’s face makes him want to swallow the words back, to keep this easy thing they have going on. To not bring the past into something so new and fragile. But he can’t - what Deran did messed him up. It could have killed him, if Deran had gone too far. It nearly killed Dave, if he hadn’t been such a good swimmer. Adrian can’t afford to bury that when it’s still in the back of his mind.

“I don’t think you’ll do it again.” He doesn’t, or he wouldn’t be here. “But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t still think of it sometimes.”

Deran stares down at their hands for a long still moment, his fingers clenched tight around Adrian’s. 

“Do you need me to go?” His voice is so quiet, so _timid_ , and Adrian tugs him in with an arm around his shoulders, desperate to show him that things aren’t that bad. 

“You do realize this is your place, right?” He can understand the confusion - other than a drunken blowjob in his bedroom at Smurf’s, they’ve never done anything in any place that could be considered Deran’s. “And I don’t want either of us going anywhere.”

Deran nods, but still reaches behind them for the blanket on the back of the couch and throws it over both of them. Adrian isn’t cold, but he appreciates the gesture.

“I’m not mad at you, not anymore.” 

Deran snorts disbelievingly, and Adrian just pushes through it.

“I’m not. I forgave what you did to me, I even got through what you did to Dave -” He’s not imagining Deran tensing beside him, he’s sure. “It’s not something that’ll stop me being here with you. But it’s hard to forget it completely.” 

They’re silent in the face of that, Adrian feeling guilty that he doesn’t care as much as he should about Dave now, and Deran probably freaking out about Dave for an entirely different reason. As if Adrian wasn’t sold on him and him alone within ten seconds of seeing him blushing and shy behind the bar that night.

“Do you wanna hit me or something?”

 _What_. Adrian spins to stare at Deran, eyes huge. “Jesus Christ, _no_.” That’s not the way to fix things, not that there’s a lot to fix, really. Just a sensation of something unfinished that needs an ending.

Deran can’t get his eyes off their knees pressed together, his other hand up to his mouth while he gnaws at his thumbnail. “Wanna fuck me?” 

That’s … Wow. 

Regardless of the situation, Adrian’s brain takes a U-turn and gets lost in that idea for a moment, Deran under or over him, tight and hot and beautiful, and yeah, Adrian can feel himself getting hard again already … But no. He doesn’t want that, not given to him like this. Not when he knows it’s something Deran is only offering as a screwed-up apology. He shakes his head, not sure how to voice that without choking on the genuine desire. It’s not something they’ve done much of, and yeah, Adrian loves it when Deran is able to let go enough that they can, but he won’t go along with that when Deran is offering for the wrong reason. 

“C’mon, I know you wanted to before.” There’s a streak of anger and panic in Deran’s voice, and Adrian doesn’t know what to do with that, but he hates it, hates how Deran can only stare out into the neon-lit room when he says it, looking small and miserable. 

He runs his hand through his hair, tugs at the strands in an attempt to settle himself for a second. It doesn’t really work.

“No. I just … No.” 

Deran huffs a frustrated breath out through his nose, trying for a moment to pull away but willing to give in when Adrian refuses to let go and actually shifts them so he’s settled under Adrian’s raised arm. “How do I fix it, then?” He sounds so lost, his only suggestions shot down, and Adrian gets it. He gets that the Cody family way when you’re hurt was to hurt the person who did it, and his chest aches with the knowledge that Deran’s had to deal with that his whole life. That he’s never gotten a chance to learn any other way.

“I’m gonna be pretty easy here.” He presses a kiss into that short hair, still confused every time he sees a glimpse of Deran and doesn’t see a blonde, greasy mess. Adrian liked that hair, hell, he loved that hair. What’s he gonna pull on now? But the short strands are growing on him very quickly, if only because they’re soft as hell. “All I need is an apology, one you mean.”

That gets Deran’s eyes on him, brows furrowed and mouth tight with confusion. “That’s all you want? Me to say I’m sorry?”

Adrian nods. “Yeah.” It’s a novel concept for them, words instead of actions, but they’ve done so much new stuff this time around. Talking seems like something else they can add to the list.

Deran lets go of his jaw to run a hand through his hair, leaning forward so that he’s out from under Adrian’s arm and lets go of his other hand. But he puts it straight back onto Adrian’s thigh, his thumb brushing gentle little circles over the skin through the blanket, and that’s good. That means he isn’t running away this time. Adrian rewards it by stroking his fingertips down Deran’s spine, watching the fine hairs lift and his barely noticeable shudders of pleasure

“I’m sorry. Jesus, I’m sorry every day that I did that to you, put you through all the shit I did. I’m sorry I didn’t do it right from the start.” He sounds honest, if a little shaky, and Adrian slides his hand over Deran’s, tangles their fingers together as an encouragement to keep going. 

“I'm sorry I hurt you. Hurt _him_.” Deran shakes his head, earring glinting every time he moves, and there's determination in his voice and fire in his eyes but it doesn't scare Adrian this time. 

“But I won't do it again. Not ever, not to you. I’m not … I’m still not a good guy, but I promise I’ll always be good to you, no matter what shit’s going on in my life. I won’t bring it around you if I can avoid it, and if it goes south, I won’t leave you behind unless you wanna stay.” 

Adrian nods slowly. He's not stupid - Deran is always going to be Deran, and no matter how hard he tries he'll always be a Cody. Being a Cody means that there's stuff he does that'll mean him being violent, being an asshole. There’ll always be jobs and unexplained cash, stashes put aside and plans to escape if it all goes wrong. 

He’ll always worry that one day Deran will be arrested or hurt, or even worse, killed if a job goes badly.

Adrian can deal with all of it as long as he never has to be on the receiving end of the violence again. He can deal if they’re together and not skulking around in the darkness, always looking over their shoulders to make sure nobody knows that Deran Cody likes dick. He can deal if Deran doesn’t leave him behind if he has to run.

“Alright.” 

Deran rears back and cocks his head at him, one eyebrow raised. “Just like that?”

He grins. “Just like that.” It's all he ever needed. 

He's met with a matching smile, Deran's eyes glowing and his teeth bright in the red tinted room. It suits him, makes him look wild. Adrian is so in love with him it hurts.

“See? That wasn’t too bad, was it?” He asks gently.

Deran shakes his head, grin going crooked and small, but no less adoring. “Look at us, huh?”

“Yeah. All mature and responsible. I’m a little scared.” Adrian pokes his tongue out when Deran mock-glares at him and gives him the finger.

“Fuck you, I’m very mature.”

“Oh, sure.” Adrian nods reassuringly, ruining it by laughing at Deran when he shoves at him, holding back so it just bounces him off the cushions. “Come here.” He lifts the blanket and wiggles his fingers, giving Deran plenty of room to settle next to him for a while if he wants.

He’s not disappointed when Deran comes in easily to rest against him, head tucking into the crook of Adrian’s neck with a sigh, one arm wrapping firmly around Adrian’s waist. If he had any illusions of leaving tonight, they’re pretty quickly smothered. It’s a good thing he wasn’t planning on going anywhere, even if Deran’s living arrangements aren’t the best.

“Wanna have round two down here then go upstairs for round three?” 

Jesus Christ. Adrian had nearly forgotten that Deran is downright insatiable if he’s comfortable in his environment, and he’s unlikely to get more comfortable than in his own bar. 

Given that his dick is still at half-mast, Adrian nods, and can’t help laughing when he’s pushed back and pinned by Deran’s wiry bulk, hovering over him like a wolf with its prey.

He’s not scared anymore by that look in his eyes. He gets his hands into Deran’s hair and tugs as best he can, groaning when Deran takes it as a hint to slide down his body.

“Alright, you menace, let's see what you've got this time.”


End file.
